What's In A Dandelion?
by mynameisweird
Summary: Because they weren't the rose Manny and Ellie symbolized. They weren't the lily that encompassed the innocence of Peaches and Louis. They were that secluded dandelion that will die every year. And yet, with its frail stem and useless yellow head, it would crop up again with the unfortunate rapid rate. Diego/Sid, Diego/Shira, Manny/Ellie, Peaches/Louis


"You learn to like someone when you find out what makes them laugh, but you can never truly love someone until you find out what makes them cry."

**-John Mayer**

**Soulmate**

Peaches innocent voice made him groan and he wonders when he had to become a dictionary. "A soulmate is someone who latches onto you like leech that can't seem to pull off," his eyes drifted from curious green to a clumsy animal's frustration on his recent fire, "But part of you kinda doesn't want it to."

**Hope**

Expanse of ocean, a boulder of ice, and a deranged sloth with an imaginary pet. Tremors ran through him as frustration stabbed his head. A sharp grasp of his fur and the sting of familiar dull claws offered him a lifeline and he would be a fool to not take it.

**Boat**

"I mean…it's not weird right? I kinda don't wanna, but she's just…" Louis' small hands rubbed furiously against one another. Diego could remember days when he would have laughed and flung the creature with a flick of his paw. The saber sighed, shaking his head with a silent comment that he could offer no help, even as the words grumbled, "Trust me kid, you and I are on the same boat."

**Third**

With Diego there was a mature understanding that he wanted in a friend. With Sid there was annoyance with an occasional laugh. But Manny knew it couldn't compare to the relationship of secret sunrises and hidden sayings that separated him into his own little column.

**Nature**

"I like her…a lot." "Hmmm." "She's a challenge, you know." "Hmmm." The saber held back a growl as he cautiously looked at the sleeping mammoth before turning back to silent sloth. "Damnit, Sid, say something." He couldn't meet the hurt gaze, but the crack in the answer he got was enough to pinch, "You're doing what nature intended." "Sid-" "Save it."

**Lifetime**

His gaze falling on the sleeping sloth while the warmth of Shira digging into his right side, his green eyes closed to something far ahead. Because maybe, just maybe, everyone will meet again. Maybe he and Sid would see each other under different situations. And maybe, just maybe, the choice he made wouldn't hurt as much.

**Fetish**

Sid cursed his way back, ignoring Louis and Peaches' call for him to join in on their game of tag. _"This is definitely the last time!"_ The coming campfire relaxed him partially and he could forget the situation he had constantly vowed to stop himself. "Sid, what happened to your neck," came a worried and exasperated tone from the 10 ton mammoth. His excuse was a fall, but he was sure his oldest friend could see the bite marks plane and simple.

**Example**

When Peaches declared to never fall in love, Manny soared to the skies. The conflicted face brought him down and the role of a parent kicked in. "Why not?" He didn't beneath her bangs as her eyes trailed to a conflicted saber couple and the hidden grin of a sloth. "There are too many downsides."

**Weakness**

It was a small tease to their herd and a mystery at best. The twins had tried and they were growled at. Peaches and Ellie tried and they were given a stupid look. Manny gave a blunt refusal. But it was Sid who could bring that rare purr out before threatened to be killed.

**Jealousy**

"Good. Our herd has enough." Rare bitter words left the lazy animal's mouth. Ellie gazed with amusement as Sid's narrow eyes stared at Buck's form as it disappeared further into the cave.

**Eyes**

Land and water with a hint of sun. The connection pointed to a world of their own. Where it wasn't just families that were different in shapes, sizes, _species_, but relationships as well. And secretly, as the ice thickens between them, it is all they hold onto.

**Peeve**

Sid annoyed him for many reasons. The list could wrap around the world and half once more. But it was that forgiving nature that angers him the most, because there are too many that don't deserve it. Including him.

**Maturity**

Her parents played a huge role into the person she was growing up to be. But it was Diego who played a bigger part when he harshly told her to take the risk with Louis. She wondered if Uncle Sid would've said the same thing too.

**Selfish**

He couldn't have both and it was what angered him the most. But the frightened yet knowing eyes beneath him as the struggles weakened made him self-seeking. With a hard growl he sank his teeth into the neck that marked the sloth into a life of loneliness and knowledge of where its heart truly lied.

**Exceptions**

Manny hating anyone riding on his back. How many years did he deal with Sid's constant begging he didn't even know. These days, it was common for his trunk to lift the small mammal up before the more common view of Shira and Diego flirting could catch his eye.

**Lords**

They screwed the common rules of their world for once as they dived into the freezing water of their new home's lake. Sid laughed loudly as a grin broke from Diego's mouth. Forehead against forehead, they entered that special world where Lord of the Flame and Lord of Touch-Me-and-You're-Dead ruled, and for once, they controlled the way the earth moved.

**Fairytale**

Uncle Sid had the best stories. Though her father warned her of exaggerations, she would sit starry-eyed with Louis as the latest tale slipped from the sloth's mouth. But as a hopeless romantic, she would grin before asking, "Uncle Sid, tell me how you and Uncle Diego got together?"

**Promise**

There was nothing stopping Sid from leaving. Peaches had already cried the night before and with a tough smile, she wished her family member luck. Manny and Ellie pushed reasons for him to stay, with Shira echoing the same statements. Eddie and Crash gave anger and lied how happy they were of his departure. And Diego, a private goodbye, he gave him a vow with a kiss on the cheek

_"Just meet me by our lake and one day I'll be there. Pinky promise, okay?"_

**Jump**

"Coward," Sid laughed as the face grimaced even further. The rushing water prevented him from tackling the idiot for the insult. With a nod, Sid bent his legs to prepare his leap. "Come on, Diego, you only live once!" No response, only claws grasping his fur and screams/laughter following the roar of waves.

**Lifetime Pt. 2**

Flesh. Peach, frail flesh with the only 'fur' on him on the top of his head. A dirty blond-colored fur with his green eyes remaining the same with only the weakness of vision in the night.

_He_ was in the familiar boat. Messy black hair with a poke of curls and blue eyes with future years of wisdom, optimism, and still as idiotic as when he was a prehistoric mammal.

"Took you long enough," and no time was wasted. Lips against lips, hand cold as ice against rough cheeks, and years of a tradition to return to a lake spilling in that kiss.

And Sid could barely hear the confessions, the miss yous, the story of finding the rest of their herd's reincarnates, and the plans for their years ahead. He can only feel himself pulled into another passionate kiss and the weight of a saber and sloth of years past lay buried beneath the lake's floor.


End file.
